Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

HEALTH CARE REFORM PASSES HOUSE, PRIMED FOR BARACK OBAMA’S JOHN HANCOCK: A U.S. House divided as it could be passed sweeping health reform legislation Sunday night, all but ensuring after more than a year of debate that it will become law. As expected, no Republicans voted for the bill, which also drew several dozen “no” votes from conservative and moderate Democrats, as well. But House Democratic leaders, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, enjoyed sheer numbers, which they translated into votes, winning passage of the health reform bill by a margin of just six. President Barack Obama, who has made health reform a cornerstone issue of his presidency, said the development answers “the call of history,” adding, “this is what change looks like.” House Minority Leader John Boehner, meanwhile, blasted the bill, saying, “we have failed to listen to America, and we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents.” The Center for Responsive Politics for months has researched and reported on how money and influence factored into health reform legislation, and ultimately, Sunday’s vote. Check back here later today for a fulll analysis of Sunday’s vote. In the meantime, review our 30-part “Diagnosis: Reform” series on health care reform and Capital Eye‘s piece Friday on the ever-expanding role of lobbyists in this debate.

HONORS FOR LATE CAMPAIGN REFORMER ‘GRANNY D': Doris “Granny D” Haddock, who in the twilight of life walked cross-country to promote campaign finance reform issues, continues to receive tributes and accolades (see here, here and here) following her death earlier this month at age 100. On a personal note, I interviewed Haddock more than a dozen times over the years for various articles, which in and of itself is hardly remarkable. What is: The interviews took place in California and Florida, New Hampshire and New York City, Texas and Colorado. Wherever political action brewed, Haddock seemed to inject herself, always with a smile and a new story of some new adventure from yesterday, not yesteryear. And this she did well into her late 90s — when she wasn’t running for the U.S. Senate. Some folks revered her as a late-blooming sage filled with wisdom and vision for a better government. Others took a dimmer view, considering Granny D little more than a sideshow, a sort of campaign finance Don Quixote. Regardless, we should all hope at age 89 to be capable of walking, say nothing of walking from the Pacific Ocean to Washington, D.C., for a cause in which we believe.

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Viveca Novak
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